‘Happiness is an exponential function of awareness. Just awareness’

If you live with the understanding that the most fundamental thing in your experience is awareness, you will be “bubbling with happiness all the time,” said Pravrajika Divyanandaprana Mataji, spiritual teacher and a monastic member of Sri Sarada Math in a conversation with Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO, YourStory. 

“It is a perverted vision if I see you only as a body, or if I see you only as mind. You are divinity, and it's manifesting in its full form. But I must awaken my own divinity to see that.”

This awakening or understanding starts with self-enquiry, a core practice of the Advaita Vedanta philosophy, which Mataji propagates. “If you just ask the question, who am I and what am I here for? Why did I take this birth? And what is the real nature of my own existence? You will automatically come to Advaita Vedanta,” she said.

Advaita answers the truth about our existence, and is therefore important for everyone, Mataji said. “So, it's telling us that, essentially, we are pure consciousness. I must understand that, fundamentally, I am pure awareness. I feel self-aware from within. I am wearing a body as I wear clothes. So, my persona, the body-mind complex, is just the outer crust of my actual personality.”

Ask anyone, she suggested, if they feel more aware within themselves or more identified with something. The answer, invariably after they think a bit, will be the former, said Mataji, who has tested this out with many of her students. 

Meditation isn’t an option

It is “wonderful” if this understanding can come just through self-enquiry. “Otherwse, use a meditative process. Still the mind a bit; bring clarity into it; purify it,” she said. 

But what about people who struggle to get through meditation, saying this is not for them? “Then,” said Mataji, “You will face the consequences of a restless mind. Meditation is not an option.” 

She said, “If you don't do it, life will teach you that, if you don't experience real inner stillness and calmness, you can't function efficiently. You can't be happy by yourself. You constantly require some gadget to keep you entertained and happy. That is a very slavish way of living, isn't it?”

The same holds for relationships. “As long as you feel that somebody has to come into my life to fulfill it, you have not tasted the joy of the inner life. If you are deeply fulfilled from within, and you bring someone into your life to share that inner joy, the relationship will work because then you are a natural giver.” The social media-dominated world, instead, projects a very different idea of joy and love. 

Mataji said, “What is it that unleashes the greatest happiness within me? Only meditation will reveal all this. That's why I am telling you that without the meditative life, love and all this can become huge problems in life.”

Real empowerment

“Happiness is an exponential function of awareness,” Mataji said. That’s the equation. “Just awareness,” she emphasised. 

Mataji lives at the Sri Sarada Mutt’s Himalayan centre at Pangot. “You see nobody is around you for months on end. And you are with your spiritual practice, your meditations, your satvik kind of lifestyle.” So, what is it that produces joy in this kind of a life, she asked, before answering, “It is only awareness. High awareness, which is our real nature.”

She said, “If you live in awareness, you are vibrant with joy from within. This is real empowerment. (There’s) so much talk on women's empowerment and all that. The real empowerment is self-empowerment. If our young women understand this, it will cause a real revolution in our societies.”

That’s the first step. Mataji said, “This body-based image of womanhood, this is actually an insult to womanhood. And the more we are stuck to some stupid idea in our head and not turning within into the very source essence of our being, the more we will suffer all kinds of problems that women are going through.”

So, let us make these few things clear to ourselves that first of all my happiness, my joy comes from within me. So, invest in your spiritual life, and have the ability to stand on your own feet. “You are emotionally independent. You are spiritually independent now. Now, everything will work for you.”

When awareness unfolds

The spiritual path, however, isn’t easy. One has to do a lot of sadhana, Mataji said. “Even if you want to get a PhD, you have to put in effort.”

She said, “You must put in your entire energy. Effort is nothing but energy. You can do tremendous work with it. But first recognise it.” 

Mataji said, “This is not an imagination. This is not about a belief. It's not about some faith system. It's your own vitality. How do you invest it? According to that, your inner life unfolds. You invested it in some silly emotion; you will be circulating only around that. And some undeveloped thought process will take you somewhere else.”

Instead, invest in real sadhana; regulate it; start leading a satvik life; meditate; expose yourself to the valuable things in life, she said. 

“You will then see how your awareness unfolds.”